[Power K-Women] "Korean American Women Also Find New Lives in Silicon Valley"

Editor's NoteAsia Economy will select women who are active not only in Asia but around the world as 'Power K-Women' at the Women's Leaders Forum to be held this October. We have chosen individuals who have overcome and broken down barriers such as race, borders, and disabilities as 'Power K-Women.' This is to widely promote the value of those who have not been discouraged by discrimination or confined by boundaries but have fought back, and to convey new values of leadership to youth and women. Their stories will provide comfort to a weary world, become role models for someone, and give the community the strength to move forward again.
Date ｜ Wednesday, October 19, 2022, 9:00 AM ? 5:20 PM
Venue ｜ Crystal Ballroom, Lotte Hotel Sogong-dong (2F)

[Asia Economy Reporter Bu Aeri] "Simply telling women to 'just work hard' makes it difficult to bring about social change."

This is what Kim Doyeon, CEO of the nonprofit startup Simple Steps, which helps Korean women who have migrated mainly to the Silicon Valley area, the U.S., and Canada with employment and career creation, said. Simple Steps provides various support such as training programs necessary for job seeking, local networking, and job matching. Their ultimate goal is to help Korean women achieve the employment they desire. Initially, they focused on helping individual women, but recently, through partnerships with companies, a virtuous cycle has emerged where employers find the talent they want, and women are given employment opportunities.

In a video interview with Asia Economy, CEO Kim said, "(During the first two years after founding) we devoted ourselves to helping women who wanted to work, but eventually realized that for women to work sustainably, other stakeholders must participate in this effort."

Simple Steps not only advises women on employment but also finds companies that need Korean women and supports them under the name of 'partnership.' Especially recently, as Korean IT companies have been actively entering Silicon Valley, demand has increased. These companies are Simple Steps' top priority targets. CEO Kim explained, "Connecting Korean startups is the first priority, and large Korean companies with branches in the U.S. are the second target," adding, "We are moving companies to hire experienced women."

"Difficult times finding jobs as immigrants... Gained ideas"

Kim, a KAIST graduate, had consistently wanted to work in the social enterprise and nonprofit sector while working at IBM Korea using her major, and she headed to the U.S. in 2007. This was because the concept of social enterprises was not widely known in Korea, and she was not confident it could develop into a career. Kim said, "In the U.S., there are related graduate programs, and I had hope that I could have this as a career," adding, "I wanted to start working through school networks."

However, a challenging process awaited her. After completing a master's degree at Harvard Kennedy School, Kim experienced difficult times in the job search due to visa issues. She said, "The place I worked at did not sponsor me, so there was a gap," and "As an immigrant and international student, the process of finding a job was very difficult, and life felt like being in a cave." She added, "Especially after having my second child, I had no network or community, and going through this period sparked the idea for Simple Steps."

Since its start in 2017, Simple Steps has grown over five years beyond a simple intermediary platform into a community. More than 2,000 people subscribe to Simple Steps' newsletter and communicate regularly through Slack. In addition to Simple Steps staff, many volunteers work autonomously for Simple Steps. Lee Myungwon, CEO of Panasonic North America, also participates as an advisor.

"In the U.S., starting with small projects and taking steps is important"

CEO Kim said, "Most Korean women starting in the U.S. without local experience find their first jobs below their expectations," adding, "Because they cannot fully utilize their Korean experience, it can be humiliating to talk about." She continued, "But if you endure for one or two years, the opportunities that open up are tremendous."

A representative case is a woman who had an eight-year career break in the U.S. She had engineering experience and initially started with a design project updating websites for Korean IT industry workers introduced by Simple Steps. Although it was a simple part-time job, she caught attention and got a part-time job at Sendbird, a Silicon Valley unicorn (startup valued over 1 trillion KRW), which later led to a full-time position.

Kim emphasized, "If she had studied coding alone without a U.S. degree or experience and applied to Sendbird, it would have been difficult. There must be a first step, then a second, and so on, leading to the hundredth. Starting with small projects, then bigger ones, and moving forward is important."

"Targeting Korean companies with offices in multiple countries is also a tip"

She also added advice for domestic women who want to work overseas besides immigrant women. Kim said, "In the past, if you lived in Korea, working in the U.S. was 99.9% impossible, but with COVID-19, it no longer seems difficult." This is because remote environments have developed and many Korean companies have offices abroad. She added, "For example, strategically looking, some startups have half their work in Korea and half in the U.S., with employees in both countries. If you first join the Korean office, you naturally collaborate with people in other countries, and there may be transfer opportunities within the company." She stressed the importance of strategically taking 'steps' starting from what is feasible.

CEO Kim also emphasized the importance of 'community' in the job search process. She said, "If you apply ten times and get one, or apply a hundred times and get none, people tend to shrink," adding, "At Simple Steps, we keep telling people, 'Not hearing back is due to external factors beyond your control, not because you are lacking.' If alone, one might give up, but with community support, mental health is managed, and people move forward together."

"Continuing as a platform for Korean women's careers"

Simple Steps' business is not what is called a money-making venture. It mainly operates on donations and some revenue from paid programs. Nevertheless, Kim is committed to this because she feels a sense of mission that there should be at least one such community. She said, "The reason I started this work was because of social system problems where women inevitably have to quit work at some point in their life cycle," adding, "There is a need, but no one created such a platform because it is not profitable and making an impact is not easy."

Therefore, her goal is to maintain Simple Steps as long as possible. Kim said, "My biggest wish is for this community to remain for a long time," adding, "Also, this is not a problem that women alone can solve, so I think Simple Steps' role is to raise (social) voices about such issues."

CEO Kim Doyeon Profile

▲ Born 1976 ▲ Bachelor in Biological Sciences, KAIST ▲ Master in Management Engineering, KAIST ▲ Master in Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School ▲ IBM Consultant ▲ Co-founder of JUMP ▲ Founder and CEO of Simple Steps